When it’s all over, you often wonder if you did it right. For me, I’m asking myself if I did college right. Did I accomplish what I wanted? Was it a success?

My college story actually starts four years ago around this time in an empty high school classroom. I had two college rejection letters in my hands and no hope for my future. I applied to Mesa State College out of sheer desperation. I got a phone call from a man in the Admissions office asking if I could make a difference with myself and this school. Of course, I said yes. A week later, I got my acceptance letter, and my college journey began.

My first weekend ended with me getting in trouble by the Pinon RAs because we had booze in the rooms. Not exactly the way I wanted to start, but that ended up being the first time many of my Pinon people bonded. It was a good ice-breaker and a good story to laugh about.

I’ll never understand how the heck I have been so lucky to have so many friends. There isn’t a better feeling than getting so many text messages from so many different people wanting to hang out. But the best part about my friends is that they allowed me to be myself without thinking I’m weird or not liking me anymore. I know me: I’m a dork, a goofball, just a silly person a lot of times. But they accepted that and kept bringing me back to hang out. I got to move in with five of my best friends who always had my back, even when I was away from the house most of the time. They gave me my best times, from going out and getting into shenanigans to South Padre 2012. A certain YOLO tattoo will always remind me of that crazy week. I have way too many individuals to thank one by one, so allow this to be the biggest possible thank you. Without my friends and their support, there’s no way I can accomplish much.

There was one constant through my entire time here, and that was the Crite. The Criterion truly made me not only a better journalist, but also a better man. Every obstacle made me stronger than before. Again, I thank all the people whom I have ever been involved with at the Crite. They showed me the way to be better, and they believed in me all the way to the top. Once I became Editor-in-Chief, I knew that I was pursuing what I loved the most. This year’s crew believed in getting better every week, and that’s just what we did. The third best newspaper in the nation. I still smile when I hear that.

Do I believe a Mass Comm major should take math, biology, marketing and other gen eds? Absolutely not, but that’s just part of the game. They did, however, allow me to be around some of the campus’ greatest professors. I think all teachers are heavily unappreciated. The ones that helped me the most were the guys in the Mass Comm department. Flenniken, Cochran, Tucci, Multz, and Evers did a great job making me better and showing me the thousands of possibilities ahead of me. My biggest thanks goes to Prof. Sandstrom. We have worked closely every day for four years. I’ll never forget a lesson I learned when going into his office to talk. He also believed in me through thick and thin.

Yes, I had a lot of fun. I mean a lot of fun. But at the same time, I can truly say that I worked my hardest every single day. I also don’t know many others who worked as hard as me. I lived by the quote, “Be a better man than you were yesterday.” I did exactly that. So with my final piece for this fine publication, I just want to say: Thank you, CMU, for allowing me to become a better man than when I first showed up in 2009. I hope I represented this university well. And to answer my own question, yes, my experience here was a success.